Left-Democratic Manch to march to Raj BhavanStaff Reporter GUWAHATI, May 16 - The Left-Democratic Manch, Assam, a conglomeration of 11 Left and democratic parties of the State, has decided to take out a march to the Raj Bhavan on June 11 next as part of its State-wide agitation in support of its demand for scrapping the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The Manch said in a statement here today that its constituent parties — CPI, CPI-M, CPI-ML, NCP, Janata Dal, Assam Sangrami Mancha, Liberal Democratic Party, Aam Admi Party, Samajwadi Party, RCPI and AIFB – opposed the Citizenship Bill in a meeting held on May 13 under the presidentship of Munin Mahanta at the State headquarters of the CPI-M. They were of the opinion that the Bill is against the secular spirit of the Indian Constitution.

The Bill is also contrary to the provision of the Assam Accord which fixed March 24, 1971 as the deadline for determination of citizenship. The Bill has sought to provide citizenship to the post-1971 migrants and is thus going to harm the interest of the NE States.

If this Bill is passed, it will totally change the demographic pattern of Assam and prove to be highly perilous for the socio-economic condition, culture and politics of Assam. It will also make the entire exercise of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) meaningless.

If the Union government fails to withdraw the Bill, the Manch will hold a dharna in New Delhi during the next monsoon session of the Parliament, it said.